CANE CREEK HEADSETS FORTY COMPLETE

As expected, this offering from Cane Creek is stellar in every way.The machining on these parts excel that of any offshore part I've encountered.The black powder coating is tough as nails.The bearings are gloriously smooth, with labels on the seals to make sure you can order the proper replacement.(That's assuming that anything could ever get past the tight fitting seals to hurt your bearings in the first place.)This is a conversion kit, so never again fear that you cant get an up-to-date fork, because your straight steerer will become tapered.If your headtube is the modern 1-1/8" diameter with an I.D. of 44mm, this is for you.The crown race seats well, and while it has no slot in it for easy install, a few taps with a rubber mallet will find it seated (and sealing better than the alternatives).At the price Amazon has for this overhaul headset, you have no excuse not to snag one.The install was easy enough that I did it (including cutting and fitting the fork) in around 90 minutes, with zero specialist tools.Tip 1: Grease the headtube before you try to fit these.Tip 2: Whether you have a Park Tools headcup press, or a long bolt and several washers (like I did), line these up and tap them into the bore squarely with a mallet, just for getting them started. It will change your life.Tip 3: Try this project yourself. If you can assemble a tube of grease, a mallet (any hammer other than steel works), a pipe the size of the crown race, a few nuts and bolts from the hardware store, and the wrenches to turn them, this is a DIY project, and you can spend that extra $75 you saved on the next tier of fork.Buy this if: you have a 44mm straight steerer tube, and you see how outdated they are becoming PLUS you enjoy very high quality parts at a decent price.Dont buy this if: you have an older 34mm straight steerer tube (still an 1-1/8" steerer tube, just less room for bearings), or you are looking to spend the most money for the least material (weight savings), in that case, it probably wont fit anyway, or you should be looking at CC 110 series.

2006 Raleigh Cadent 5.0 specification says 1-1/8" integrated. Unfortunately, that's not helpful and I made the mistake of buying a IS41 headset that did not fit.After measuring the headtube, the inner diameter is 43.9mm and the outer diameter is 50mm which translates to the ZS44/ZS44 standard for both top and bottom of the headtube. Installed very easily and like most Cane Creek products is very well made/machined.So glad I can keep my trusty steed from the turn of the millennium rolling after my old stock aheadset started endlessly leaking grease. Huge upgrade here to sealed bearings.

This is the headset to convert your bike to a tapered fork from 1 1\8. This creates significantly more rigidity and opens your options to modern forks. This headset will probably require you to cut it to mount the bottom bearings flush. Don't let that cut deter your purchase as this is a phenomenal upgrade for your bike. There is a scored line on the bottom insert that if followed with a dremel or hacksaw will remove 3mm leaving 5mm behind. The normal depth of a headtube bearing seat. In my pics you will see the outcome along with the tools need to remove and install a headset...all that cost less than $10 to make..combined, outside of the dremel. Buy it!!!! You won't regret it!

This is a great product because it allows you to install either a tapered or straight steerer fork. If you have a straight steerer fork, all you need is Cane Creen BAA0463A and this headset.For those of you with rigid bikes with straight steerer forks and 44mm headtubes, you will now be able to use modern suspension forks AND reinstall your rigid fork if you so desire. I did exactly that for my Surly Karate Monkey to install a Rockshox Pike.

Yeah, there are much better and higher cost headsets but I think this is the perfect price point and quality level. The CK and the bigger brother of this headset is way over engineered and you pay for that. Those aren't necessary unless you want the bling factor or ride under the sea. The 40 series has more than enough sealing for your everyday rides. Love this series.

Great product, but worth noting that this headset is INCOMPATIBLE with many 1-1/8'' steertubes.Your steertube MUST have a 44mm diameter for this headset to work. Many older 1-1/8'' steer tubes have 34mm internal diameters and will NOT be compatible with this product, which requires a semi-integrated design. MAKE SURE you measure your steertube's internal diameter before you buy.

Used this to replace the 1-1/2" Straight Tube Suntour SR Coil Fork on my 2016 Giant Talon 3. I upgraded to a Suntour Raidon Air Fork with a 1-1/8" tapered tube. The EC40/44 worked perfectly for my needs and was easier to install than I thought after having viewed several YouTube videos.

The perfect solution if you want to fit conical suspension forks on your 1-1/8 straight steerer tube frame. It comes with a star nut and all the sealed bearings needed.Very smooth operation and lightweight. The external cup adds 1cm or so to the front bike height, changind the head angle a bit, making it a tad more slacker, which doesn't hurt at all or affect the bike handling characteristics.